For the Honkai Beasts and Honkai Zombies of Nagazora City, the past few days had been relaxing and blissful. That terrifying human hadn't been out and about.
But their good days were not to last…
"Be careful, Li Xuan-kun," Raiden Mei called out to the backs of Li Xuan and Liv. Li Xuan had woken up early that morning, taken the dormant 'Rifled Flintlock' from his ring, and awakened its Divine Core, once again transforming it into the maid, Liv.
"Mm… Okay~" Li Xuan waved casually and headed with Liv towards a place with strong Honkai energy fluctuations. As a gun-girl, Liv could also sense Honkai energy, so she could easily lead Li Xuan to where the Honkai Beasts gathered.
For the fully-equipped Li Xuan, the current Honkai Beasts were easy to deal with. The shield from his 'Xuanyuan Festive Garb' could block all damage and continuously absorbed Honkai energy to regenerate itself. As long as the shield wasn't broken in a single hit, Li Xuan was basically invincible.
And the only Honkai Beast that could likely break his shield would be the strongest humanoid type. After all, those humanoid Honkai Beasts came equipped with spears dozens of meters long and bone shields, making their combat and defensive capabilities ridiculously high.
"Master, Liv detects three Chariot-class Honkai Beasts ahead! Should we go around?" Liv reported to Li Xuan, her back straight in an adorable attempt at seriousness.
"No need, it's only three." Seeing Liv's intentionally stern expression, Li Xuan chuckled and patted her head. He then walked towards the three Honkai Beasts with his hands behind his back, the small pouch at his waist jingling.
Perhaps it was the sound of his footsteps and the jingling, or the scent of a human, but the three Honkai Beasts that had been lying on the ground stirred alertly, pushing their massive bodies up on their thick, pillar-like limbs.
"ROAR!~~" The three beasts spotted the tiny intruder simultaneously and charged towards Li Xuan, roaring. They all raised their right arms to smash down on the human who seemed frozen in fear. One hit, and this disgusting, filthy human would surely be dead.
However, things did not go as planned…
The instant before the beasts' paws slammed down, a powerful force surged through Li Xuan's Honkai-enhanced body. The strength of his muscles allowed him to leap back several meters in an instant, avoiding the attack. The beasts' powerful strike smashed a large crater in the concrete ground, sending sharp debris flying, but it was all blocked by the shield that materialized around Li Xuan.
Bend knees, clench fist, lunge… After retreating, Li Xuan immediately charged forward again, coming to a steady stop in front of the three still-stunned Honkai Beasts.
On the right collar of his dragon-embroidered 'Xuanyuan Festive Garb', two silver emblems flashed. A surging power descended upon his fist the moment he threw a punch. His once-flesh-and-blood fist seemed to become a solid block of iron as it shot forward…
BANG!! His fist collided with the head of the central Honkai Beast. At the same time, the air within a one-meter radius of Li Xuan was compressed by an enormous force, turning into an air cannon as hard as his thousand-kilogram punch, which slammed into the heads of the other two beasts that were about to swipe their claws again.
Thud! Thud! With two more muffled sounds, all three Honkai Beasts were sent flying almost simultaneously. Their massive bodies flew through the air like pitiful, broken-winged birds before crashing heavily to the ground, creating two more sizable craters in the concrete road.
"Sigh, the combination of 'Nan'gong's Trial' and 'Knight Never Dies by Bare Hands' is really destructive!" This was the first time Li Xuan had used 'Nan'gong's Trial', and he was surprised by how powerful the emblem's skill was.
In the distance, the three Honkai Beasts struggled weakly. Li Xuan's single punch wasn't enough to kill these creatures, whose vitality rivaled that of cockroaches.
"Mm… still not dead, huh." Li Xuan casually summoned a rocket launcher and hoisted it onto his shoulder—the five-star weapon, 'Tyr's Wrist'.
"Alright, time to collect some Honkai crystals~" Li Xuan yawned and gently pressed the trigger with his right index finger.
Pffft—BOOM! A rocket with four golden protrusions shot out from the launcher with immense force. It tore through the air with a whistling sound, heading for the center of the three downed Honkai Beasts, and then… it exploded!
Whoosh~ BOOM! The powerful blast from the rocket instantly finished off the three Honkai Beasts. The flames from the explosion landed on the debris-strewn road, burning relentlessly. The brilliant fire and smoke painted the morning sky of Nagazora City red.
"Liv! Let's go collect the crystals~" Li Xuan casually returned the rocket launcher to his ring and called to Liv, who was looking at him with adoration. He scratched his head and walked towards the three unfortunate Honkai Beasts, ready to use his Stigmata's ability to extract the Honkai energy from their bodies.
'I should have enough for a ten-pull now, right?' Li Xuan thought as he walked with a light step, looking at the red and blue sky. The small pouch at his waist chimed like a bell.
He didn't notice a round, spider-like robot hidden among the debris not far away.
.........….
"Incredible power, and powerful weapons!" Miles away, a woman with long, light-blonde hair watched the battle between one human and three Honkai Beasts with a mixture of surprise and excitement. The outcome—a human victory—was beyond her expectations.
"To be able to control such power without undergoing Schicksal's Valkyrie trials!"
"His potential might even rival that of Lord…" The woman thought of her superior, that terrifyingly powerful lord.
"If… we let him continue to follow Siegfried's daughter, he might be discovered by Schicksal at any moment!"
"No!" The woman gritted her teeth. If Schicksal were to acquire such a powerful Stigmata wielder, wouldn't it widen the gap in combat power that Anti-Entropy had just managed to close with their newly developed robots?
After all, a single A-Rank Valkyrie was far more powerful than a group of Anti-Entropy robots! And this was a Stigmata wielder with the potential to reach S-Rank!
"It's time to implement the plan," the woman said decisively, picking up the communicator beside her.
At the very least, we cannot let him fall into Schicksal's hands!
(End of Chapter)